Reunion
by GethinPathIsolator
Summary: ...always watching from the corner and speaking only if it's necessary. "Adieu." He said one final time. No one heard of Yagyuu Hiroshi the following day.Or the following weeks.  2shots
1. Chapter 1

Yagyuu Hiroshi had always been the reserved one. Always watching from the corner and speaking only if it's necessary. Although he'd had no problems dealing with people and social gatherings, he had always preferred being alone and independent. Often times he would open a novel pretending to be engrossed in a story when in reality it was a cover to prevent people from talking to him. And during this peaceful time by himself he thought and thought and thought until there was nothing else he could think about except the deafening silence that has started to bother him. Most of the times it drove people away leaving him to his contentment, but then, there were days when Masaharu would come breaking the serenity.

It wasn't all bad being friends with the resident trickster. He made his life less boring but it had become awfully noisy too. It was both good and bad, Hiroshi thought. It was bad that Masaharu was slowly but intricately changing him or perhaps it was only him who sees this (maybe because they were the things only he knows about himself) and good because he was able to do the same to his new found friend.

Being friends with the boy who was sent to the principal at least three times a day was sure to taint your good boy reputation. It was true for Marui Bunta who never had anything to do with his pranks except for the occasional playing dumb about the whereabouts the silver haired boy. But for the gentleman, it wasn't the case. Only the tennis regulars know that it was him who provides the materials for the execution of the trick and him who thinks of about a third of the mischief. No one could ever point a finger on him solely because he was Yayuu Hiroshi and Yagyuu Hiroshi was a courteous and responsible student. Besides, no one could ever prove him guilty, well, maybe Yanagi could. He wouldn't though. He would never sell out his teammate. And maybe because he was tad bit afraid for his bulks and volumes of notebooks containing all the data he had gathered since he was eight that was safely hidden under his bed in a vault with an eight digit lock. He knew he could never make a mistake around the trickster when he saw a note in between the notebooks one day while doing his weekly routine of cleaning and such. 'Found it,' it had said. It was fairly easy to recognize to whom the script had belonged.

All in all, Yagyuu concluded that middle school after meeting Niou has never been boring.

And then middle school had to end. On their Graduation day, all of them met under the cherry tree near the club house. Since everyone was going to Rikkai High, they were all thinking the same thought, 'We'll stay together.'

Well, almost everyone was thinking that. Yagyuu was thinking: I'd stay with you until it's time to go.

And so life stayed the way it used to be with school and tennis practice. They all quickly made it to the high school tennis's top and everyone was amazed at how well Yagyuu could play singles surpassing his own mentor. He'd been offered to play singles but refuses every time.

"I prefer having someone to turn to in a match." He once told Niou when the latter confronted him asto why he wouldn't accept the offer. The silver haired petenshi smirked and said, "I guess I've made it into your heart." Then, he turned away and everything went the way it was. Occasionally the seven of them would go and cross to the middle school division and check up on the new buchou, Kirihara.

The year came and went; as their second year of high school peaked around the corner, Yagyuu knew it was time to go. He had known for quite a while – ever since he got that letter from his Aunt in Paris just before freshman year ended.

One summer day he texted everyone from the middle school regulars and challenged them all in a match. He was quickly beaten by the three demons but surpassed Marui and Jackal. Kirihara defeated him by a scrape. When it was Niou's turn, he was fully exhausted. The score was 4-2 with Niou in the lead when Yukimura stopped the match. Somewhere during his second service trickles of rain startedvto fall and so, the court was getting slippery.

"Next time," his partner said. He didn't nod nor shook his head. Instead, he packed his racket and said goodbye.

"Adieu." He said one final time.

No one heard of Yagyuu Hiroshi the following day...

Or the following weeks...

And months passed they'd completely lost contact with him.


	2. Chapter 2

The alarm rang at exactly seven am. Yagyuu Hiroshi slowly opened his eyes and met the bright sunlight. The blasted thing continued to ring which annoyed him an awful lot. Still, he waited for a few more minutes before turning it off. And even after shutting it, he continued to lay down.

Eight years. Eight long years.

He hadn't heard from them in eight years. Deep inside him he regretted having never thought of contacting them even after getting back from his five year stay in Paris. But he chose not to think about it.

"It's no use. We can't go back in time." He told himself.

It just hurt too much to think about it. The scar it had created in his heart was never going to heal.

Yagyuu had always known himself as someone capable of being fully independent, solely because while growing up, he never had someone to turn to. He didn't realize that the Rikkai family he had been unconsciously part of had affected him so much. Preferring the doubles play with Niou had been proof of that. In truth, after leaving for Paris, he was unable to find any close friends – those comparable to the bond he shared with the regulars. Of course there were those few comrades who he'd hung out for more than once, but apart from the polite greetings, nothing more was shared. And it didn't help that he compared every single possible candidate of being a _friend_ to at least one member of the regulars. He expected them to like sweets just as much as Marui so he gave them too many sweets. He expected him to be as gentle and understanding as Yukimura so he didn't quite behave naturally. And he acted childishly like Kirihara so Yagyuu can't help but treat him like a small child. The worst blow was when he started to mimic a certain guy who'd first befriended him in the institution. Yes he was all laugh and jokes, but he wasn't the trickster. It might be his nostalgia or Rikkai's craziness had finally worn off on him that Yagyuu didn't realize this.

The place he now owned wasn't that much far from his old neighbourhood. It was just about a thirty minute drive away.

Thirty minutes away.

Tic toc tic toc.

He started the car and drove to his destination. On the way, he picked up a bouquet of red roses and two cups of yogurt.

The cemetery gates were rusty and made a very annoying noise when you open it. The keeper let Yagyuu in and led him to the grave he'd been meaning to see.

Niou Masaharu  
>Dec. 4, XXXX – Nov. 8, XXXX<br>A son, a brother, and a great friend  
>you will be missed.<p>

He ran into Yanagi the other day. It turns out a year after he left, Niou had gotten worse. He skipped tennis practiced too much that they had no choice but to kick him out. The rest of team tried to help him but he wouldn't listen to anyone. Then, his pranks became more destructive. It was like the devil has been let lose. It wasn't until Yukimura asked helped from Atobe to get Yagyuu's whereabouts in Europe. Nobody knew they were distant relatives but Yukimura and Yanagi.

They had some strings pulled just to get the school to have an overseas activity in Paris and by this time, Niou had found a note telling him where Yagyuu was. Niou worked hard to earn the prize.

And he did.

Everyone was glad to see him getting back on track.

Just before the yuletide season, Niou was off packing his things for a three week stay in Paris.

On the eight of November, the day of his flight, there was a vicious car accident. A truck lost its control causing it to drag several cars and crushing it to pulp.

Niou was riding a taxi cab that got involved in the misfortune.

He was the only one killed. The other victims survived though not without major complications.

"I saw the letter you know – the one Sanada wrote to me. But I was so busy with my classes and adjusting to the environment that I just forgot about it. I didn't even bother opening the damned thing." Yagyuu said passively. He put down the flowers and sat in front of the tomb. He sat a cup of yogurt in front of him and the other he opened.

"The taste never changed." He smiled at no one and set his barely eaten cup down. "And I'll still never be able to finish this." At the back of his mind he could hear Niou scolding him.

_"Hiroshi! That's a waste of such good food. Here, let me have it. Why can't you appreciate such heavenly things. It's getting yummier by the second."_

Yagyuu turned to leave. As he started the car, he noticed the battered tennis bag at the back seat. It's been years since he last had practice. Maybe it's time to get back into shape.

_"You're over reacting, Niou-kun. It's the same as when we last had them."_

Too bad life doesn't work that way.

(A/N: It's been years since I last wrote a fanfic and it feels like I'm starting from scratch all over again xD. I hope I didn't ruin the ending.  
>Not edited so there might be some grammar mistakes xD<p>

I really can't believe I have time to do this when I have three tests and tons of projects to finish ~,~)|

**R&R **:)


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